


From Clear Umbrellas to French Fries

by JK_Quinn



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Female Reader, First Meeting, Grillby swears, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader is an artist, Reader is dfab, Reader-Insert, Sans is a fucking goofball, oh and, possibly OCD Grillby, you're both pretty socially awkward but I feel like Grillby could be smoother than you ya know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 01:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7555669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JK_Quinn/pseuds/JK_Quinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a pleasant walk home in the rain, you spot a stranded Grillby under an awning. You offer him your umbrella and help him get to his bar safely. And hey, free fries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Clear Umbrellas to French Fries

**Author's Note:**

> Separate from my other Grillby fic, although that's getting a sequel eventually.  
> Basically, another meeting Grillby fic.  
> Can you tell I'm obsessed?

Rainy days were the best days, in your opinion. Everything smelled earthy and wonderful and the evil bright sun hid from your weak, artist's eyes as the heavens rained down upon everything. Not that you weren't still under an umbrella; girl's gotta protect her hair, ya know. But you'd finally gotten ahold of this clear umbrella that you'd always wanted. Since it was clear, it was able to hang down lower and protect more of your face from the downpour without obstructing your view of this glorious act of nature.

Not everyone around shared your love of rain, however. This was plain to see when a monster made of fire came into your view, looking frantic with his back against the wall under the awning of a local business. All you had time to think about was how fire and water don't mix before your legs were already moving, scuttling across the street and towards the flame elemental, narrowly dodging the car you didn't see coming because you didn't stop to look (for fucks sake, look both ways before you cross the street!), holding out your still-opened umbrella to him with a smile. "Need a little help, friend?" 

As his gaze turns towards you, you can see relief wash over his literally smoldering face at the sight of the umbrella. "Yes, most definitely..." He accepts your outstretched umbrella. "Thank you." 

Your smile fades into a grin. "It's not a problem. The low overhang should protect your face quite nicely, and you won't have to worry about losing your way. You have a good one!" With that, you turned to leave, but this man wouldn't let you. "Wait!" He said suddenly, trying to grab your arm to stop you. You're guessing he didn't think about that first, given the sudden sizzle and hiss of pain that came once he touched your wet sleeve.

"Shit, fuck, ass, fuck, damnit" you could hear him curse under his breath,   suckling on his... er, burnt? fingertips. "Crap, I am so sorry!" you said, panicking. All you wanted to do was make sure he didn't get hurt and everything is starting to go so wrong. "Are you okay?" Very suddenly, as if he'd just realized you were still here, the flame man before you quickly took his finger from his mouth. When you looked, you could see color and warmth slowly fading back into his fingertips, replacing the black, charred look that was there, as a bluish tint started to appear across his face.  
"Ah... Y-yes, I'll be fine. I just... don't you want your umbrella back? I'm just a bit down the street, so if you walked with me, it'd only be a moment." The man on fire before you gestures down the street in the direction you were already heading. You felt some relief from your anxiety and smiled at him again, drying your hand on the inside of your jacket and outstretching it to him, offering your name. With a crackle from atop his head, he appeared to return the smile (although it was hard to tell; his features are quite faint) and shook your hand. You didn't realize until he took your hand how cold your fingers had gotten. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss (y/n). My name is Grillby. Shall we walk?"  
With that, he picked up a bag of groceries from the ground, which you hadn't noticed before, offering his elbow to you and you accepted, huddling close to the warm Grillby in an attempt to stay beneath the umbrella.

As you began to walk, a thought occured to you. "I think I've heard that name before. Grillby as in Grillby's down the road Grillby?" Once again, the monster before you flushed slightly blue in the face. Is he blushing? "Yes, actually. It's where we're headed now." At this, you grew inwardly excited, thanking whatever gods were out there that you had nothing going on tonight. You'd never had a chance to check out the monster bar thus far, but your roommate had once brought you her leftovers, and they were absolutely divine. Even cold, those were the best fries you'd ever tasted. 

"Awesome! I've been wanting to check you out for weeks." Grillby looked at you strangely, bluer in the face than before. It was your turn to blush now. "The restaurant! I mean. I've been wanting to check out Grillby's ever since my roommate brought me her leftover fries. I didn't think cold fries could be that good, but I ate the shit out of those and I'm sorry I'm rambling and I'm just gonna shut up now." By the last part, you were practically whispering to yourself, so embarrassed that you weren't even looking at him. You could hear him chuckling, though. Which would normally be a lot more embarrassing if not for the crackling of his flames that accompanied his laughter. You found yourself smiling in spite of your embarrassment just as Grillby stopped in front of his establishment.

"We're here." He announced, unlocking the front door quickly. You could still hear the amusement in his voice. Despite the hazards of the rain, he insisted on holding the door open for you to go first, quickly switching on the lights and stepping in behind you, closing the umbrella and setting it by the door. As he hung up his coat, you followed suit, taking in the bar/restaurant. Everything was done up in a warm colored wood and polished beautifully and the lingering scent of smoke like a campfire could be smelled throughout. You could already imagine it full of people and monsters and the thought of such a warm atmosphere fills you with... Contentment. By the time you pull yourself from your reverie, Grillby is already behind the bar, tying an apron around his waist. He sees you looking at him and calls out, "We're not open yet, but I'd be more than happy to bring you some fries."

Your face heated up again. "Are you sure?" You asked, approaching the bar. A good choice, you decided, as it was toasty warm the closer you got to him. "I don't want to inconvenience you. You probably need to set up and everything." Grillby chuckled again, and you started to like that sound. "Of course. It's the least I can do to repay you. And besides, it'll only take me a moment. Please, take a seat, (y/n)."

With that, he disappeared behind what you could only assume was the kitchen door, leaving you to settle into one of the barstools. True to his word, he returned in only about a minute with a plate of fresh, piping hot fries and set them in front of you along with some ketchup. They smelled absolutely glorious. He paused only long enough to watch you take your first bite, turning away and flushing blue again at the sight of the rapturous look on your face. Not that you saw, anyway. You were much to preoccupied with your little pieces of fried heaven on front of you. It made you want to cry, but you held back.

"Grillby, these are absolutely amazing! Thank you," you grinned, seeing the back of his neck flushed blue as he sets up the tables. He just smiled to himself, trying to focus on his pattern. Salt, pepper, condiments, silverware, napkins. Salt, pepper, condiments, silverware, napkins. Salt-

"So how long have you been on the neighborhood, Grillby?" At the sound of his name, he suddenly snapped out of his reverie, blinking at you as he processed the question. He was so in the zone, he almost hadn't heard it. "Uhm..." He paused, stretching time to quickly set out the pepper, condiments, and silverware. Huh, this napkin dispenser was already full. "A few years now," how many years had they been aboveground now? Fuck, he couldn't remember. He wasn't used to talking and setting up at the same time "We've been back for about... How many years?" You stammered, "Uh, I think about, five years?" "Then we've been here three." He smiled at you, inwardly thrilled his brain was working now, and you grinned back, taking another bite of your fries.  
Grillby's inner freakout went completely unnoticed by you, though. You were more focused on the fries at hand. Although by the time you were finished, you were watching the flame elemental rather closely. You hadn't quite gotten a good look at him outside, so you found yourself quite wrapped up in watching the way he moved, watching him somehow make something as mundane as sweeping look graceful, the patterns of the flames on his head. Before long, you started noticing human-like traits the more you stared at him. The shape of his jaw, the possible tendons in his neck. He looked very much the part of "dapper bartender" and, if you were being honest, you found youself wondering how humanlike he really was.

Suddenly, you realized he's noticed you staring and you blush. "Something wrong?" He asked, cocking his head sligntly. It was pretty cute. "N-no, it's nothing." You insisted. Grillby looked almost puzzled. "Is there something on me?" He teased, looking at his shirt for an imaginary stain. Cute bastard. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to stare..." You sighed, thoroughly embarrassed. "I've never really seen someone like you before. I mean, like, a fire person. I don't know, it's really relaxing and jesus, I sound like a racist, don't I?" You laughed awkwardly to yourself, blushing a little darker when he laughed too. When you were able to look at him again, you almost caught a glimpse of a light almost... Crack? where Grillby's mouth should be. You made a mental note about that for later.

After a long pause, there was a sudden knock on the window and you turned with a start to see a skeleton pressing his face against the glass. "hey grillbz, you open early? it's not 4:00 yet, but you got the lights on..." You could see the skeleton's eyes light up looking towards you as he pressed his nasal cavity harder against the glass. That looked painful. "and the ketchup's already out! you gonna let me in or what, grillbz?" 

You tried to hold in your giggles as he began to try and make faces against the glass, since Grillby looked absolutely mortified, but it was hard with him pressing a blue tongue to the glass while rain poured down his skull and both down and out his eyesockets.

As Grillby let the short skeleton in (who shook off like a dog just to annoy Grillby) you thought to yourself, 'I could like this place,' popping the last french fry into your mouth and chewing it thoughtfully. 'Especially if it means seeing more of that hot bartender.'

**Author's Note:**

> Written in about an hour in my phone, so please excuse any spelling or formatting errors.  
> May get a chapter two because the ending feels weird to me.
> 
> Can you tell I'm obsessed? (My bf is concerned)


End file.
